Recorders

[Dave2002]

Yamaha Ecodear YRA48

I decided to try one of the Ecodear recorders - the YRA48 https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/produc...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (£24.99) - it's also on the Thomann.de site. There is another model - the 402B - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-Ba...ruments&sr=1-2 but it costs more than £10 more with additional fees added on.

What I noticed from the Thomann site is that both seem to be based on Rottenburgh models, and indeed comparing the new YRA48 with my Moeck shows that they look similar, and not only that, but some of the parts are interchangeable. The body of the Moeck will fit in the head piece of the Ecodear, it's an almost exact fit - the engineering is that accurate. I tried the body of the Ecodear in the head piece of the Yamaha, but it seemed to be a very tight fit. If there was any problem with expansion/contraction/moisture then the wooden head could be damaged, so I didn't try too hard with that, but I think it's safe enough to use the Moeck body in the Ecodear head, because the cork joints give sufficent flexibility.

For what it's worth, other recorders, such as the Aulos Haka and the (older) Aulos 209B models don't have parts which will fit any of the others I have, so in general I'd say that there isn't such interchangeability between models.

I don't know whether the 402B Ecodear would also have parts which are compatible with the Moeck Rottenburghs - my guess is that it does, but I don't have one to try.

My limited experience with this (less than an hours playing so far) might prompt me to try the soprano model too, which I'm guessing is also based on the Rottenburgh models, and might be compatible with the Moeck sopranos. That would be cheaper than buying yet another wooden instrument.

[Dave2002]

Doris Kulossa - Stanesby soprano

Another fairly new plastic recorder which seems to be strongly recommended by some is the Music Garden MRS-1B based on designs by Dora Kulossa - possibly based originally on models by Stanesby Jr.

Here is Bart Spanove playing Van Eyck's Nightingale on one of these recorders - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtZMS1CgGUY

This model is available for just under £30 - see https://www.barrettrecorders.co.uk/m...cant-recorder/

Bart Spanhove plays the same piece again, but on a wooden recorder in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJgK...ature=youtu.be

Note some of his interesting techniques!

[Dave2002]

Yamaha Ecodear YRA48 - spectrum

Here is a spectrum taken from the Yamaha Ecodear Alto recorder - YRA48. The spectrum was sampled from an audio file using Audacity.

The tone sampled was A4.

Noise suppression was applied, the noise floor is 60dB down. This signal is about 17dB down from the max level, so approx 43dB above the noise floor.

The first two overtones are actually stronger than the fundamental. It doesn't sound bad though. I'll put up more spectra in a while - may take a few days.

[Dave2002]

Moeck maple alto - spectrum

Moeck maple alto - spectrum

Here is a spectrum from a Moeck alto - similar to the Ecodear.

The conditions under which the measurements were taken are not identical, though this does indicate some similarities and differences.

Anything below the 60dB line can be ignored as noise and irrelevant. I'll probably have to redo these anyway, once I have a procedure set up.

[Dave2002]

Aulos 209B spectrum

Aulos 209B spectrum

As with the others in this series so far - I will probably have to redo in time.

I'm not sure whether I really should resize the images before loading to imgur. There was a thread which suggested they could be edited inside imgur, but it may be simpler for me to do before upload in future. I'll probably take them down and resize them later on.

[Dave2002]

Aulos Haka alto spectrum

Here it is



Gives a rough idea, though I think this and some of the others should be done with more consistency. I suspect this one doesn't have the noise suppression step, which I used for later versions. Anything below around -50dB should be ignored, I think.

[Dave2002]

No recorder player has ever won this BBC Young Musician competition.

However, peformers such as Charlotte Barbour-Condini do show the recorder in a very good light, though perhaps the repertoire for the instrument is somewhat limited. There is music from centuries after the 18th, including some 20th century music such as the Lennox Berkeley Sonatina, but little is really outstanding (IMO).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRTGLds9V_4&feature=youtu.be

[Richard Barrett]

perhaps the repertoire for the instrument is somewhat limited

Not really. The repertoire between 1750 and 1950 is somewhat limited, that's all. There is a large and growing contemporary repertoire, for solo recorder(s), recorder quartet, chamber music containing recorder(s), much of which is on a much higher level of achievement than Lennox Berkeley and his ilk.

[Dave2002]

.... much of which is on a much higher level of achievement than Lennox Berkeley and his ilk.

... and some, sadly, is at a much lower level of achievement.

[Richard Barrett]

... and some, sadly, is at a much lower level of achievement.

Nothing new there!

[Dave2002]

Nothing new there!

Are there any recent works, say in the last 40 years, which you think really have merit, and worth investigating?

[Richard Barrett]

Off the top of my head: Luciano Berio - Gesti, Franco Donatoni - Nidi (solo), Louis Andriessen, Melodie (with piano), those should give you a start, there are hundreds more though.

[Pulcinella]

This CD of American recorder concertos has recently been issued: mentioned in 'Brief notes' in the new BBC MM (June 2019) that dropped through the letterbox this morning.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8607980--american-recorder-concertos

And there's an interesting concerto by David Bedford on this NMC CD that I have on my shelves:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7939894--david-bedford-alleluia-timpanis#related

Gramophone review here:

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/david-bedford-recorder-concerto

There are five movements, each using a different recorder (bass to sopranino).

[Dave2002]

What are bass recorders good for?

What can you do with a bass recorder? Well, this perhaps - https://youtu.be/N-5HHX-asKI

[Dave2002]

This CD of American recorder concertos has recently been issued: mentioned in 'Brief notes' in the new BBC MM (June 2019) that dropped through the letterbox this morning.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8607980--american-recorder-concertos

I found that a few days ago. It’s available on Qobuz for anyone who wants to try before buying, or just wants to listen occasionally - https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/am.../ggcowno4q0a7a

I was trying to find recordings of concertos by John Baston. Michala Petri has recorded some, but I haven’t found them on line yet, though the CDs are available.

The David Bedford works are also available via Qobuz I believe - https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/da.../nw1bup7a7ipja